Valve control means



INVENTOR ,D. clflfunsan o J MUNSON VALVE CONTROL MEANS Filed April 24, 1950 March 3, 1953 Patented Mar. 3, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE VALVE CONTROL MEANS Donald J. Munson, Anderson, Ind. Application April 24, 1950, Serial No. 157,778

2 Claims. (01. 137708) This invention relates to valve control forbutterfly valves such as are used in the carburetion arrangement common in automobiles.

More particularly the invention relates to a carburetor valve locking device.

One important object of this invention is to provide a novel means whereby upon adjustment of the butterfly valve of a carburetor, as done by depression of the accelerator pedal of an automobile, the valve may be locked against movement out of its adjusted position.

Another important object of the invention is to provide spring means for effecting unlocking of the valve for adjustment and electro-magnetic means for effecting locking of the valve against the action of the spring means.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an electro-magnetic unlocking device for such purpose controlled by pedal operation of a circuit closer.

With the above and other objects in view, as will be presently apparent, the invention consists in general of certain novel details of construction and combinations of pants hereinafter fully explained, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and particularly claimed.

In the drawings, like characters of reference indicate like parts in the several views, and

Figure l is a vertical section partly in elevation and showing a portion of a carburetor, its butterfly valve and the locking and unlocking means, the valve being hown in unlocked condition;

Figure 2 is an enlarged section on the line 2-2 of Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is a side elevation partly broken away and showing the arts illustrated in Figure 1 with the valve locked.

In the embodiment of the invention as herein illustrated, there is disclosed a portion of the carburetor housing 10 of a motor vehicle construction and through which extends a rotatable valve stem II on which is fixedly mounted a circular valve 12 of the type commonly known as a butterfly valve. One end of the stem ll projects through the housing l and on this end is fixed a valve lever 13 connected by the usual rod Hi to the accelerator pedal, the latter being well known and not deemed necessary here to illustrate.

Fixedly mounted in any suitable manner is a casing l5 which is axially alined with the stem ll. This casing has a head l6 at one end and centrally of the head is a tubular guide boss 11. Seated in the casing remote from the head I6 is a solenoid having a tubular body I8 at the ends of which are mounted the solenoid heads l9 and 20. On the body [8 between the heads I19 and 20 is the solenoid winding 2| the terminals of which are connected to binding posts 22 mounted on the exterior of the casing I5. A plug 23 is fitted in one end of the solenoid and is riveted to the end of the casing opposite and in axial alinement with the head l6. Slidable in the solenoid is a core 24 of the usual magnetizable material. This core has formed thereon a disk 25 and between this disk and the adjacent end 29 of the solenoid winding is a coiled compression spring 26 constantly urging the disk 25 towards the head I6. The core 24 has a reduced end 21 which extends through the guide boss [1. This reduced end is provided with an axially disposed cavity 28 opening toward the valve l2. The valve stem H projects through the housing I0 and is provided with a terminal portion 29. As hereshown, the portion 29 is practically square in crosssection as is also the cavity 28. However, this end 29 and the cavity 28 may be of any desired cross-sections so long as the cross-sections are such that when the terminal portion 29 of the valve stem II is slidably fitted to the end 21 of the core, the stem cannot rotate relative to the core. The core end 21 and the stem end thus constitute coacting clutching elements operating to prevent such relative rotation.

At 30 is shown the usual inclined floor board of an automobile on the underside of which is mounted an ordinary normally open commercial circuit closer 3| of well known type closing of a circuit passing through this closer being effected by depressing the three-way switch button or plunger 32 which projects through a hole 33 in the floor board 30. This circuit closer is connected at one side by a conductor 94 with one of the binding posts 22, and leading from the other binding post and the other side of the circuit closer 3| are conductors 35 one of which is grounded, the other being connected to the automobile battery.

In the operation of the device, it will be seen from Figure 1 that with the solenoid de-energized the core is free to rotate so that the stem I l and valve l2 may also rotate, thus permitting movement of the valve by operating the lever l3 as may be done by movement of the accelerator. However, when it is desired to lock the valve in set position, pressure on the switch button 32 will close a circuit through the solenoid winding which will effect retraction of the core 24 and cause it to press firmly against the plug 23, thus preventing rotation of the core by the frictional engagement of the core end with the end of plug 23, thus locking the valve in the adjusted position. With the valve thus locked, the operator may remove his foot from the accelerator pedal. To release the valve, it is only necessary to again depress the switch button 32 which breaks the circuit to the circuit closure, the solenoid being de-energized and permitting free rotation of the core 24 and connected valve 12.

What is claimed is:

1. In motor vehicle construction with its carburetting means, carburetor throttle valve control means comprising a throttle valve of the butterfly type and its charge-conveying housing and with the valve adjustable rotatively on a stem axis, operator-controlled means operatively connected with one end of the valve stem for adjusting the valve rotatively at will, a casing contained solenoid unit mounted to locate the unit axis alined with the stem axis, the solenoid core plunger of the unit having a projected end zone permanently engaging the opposite end of the valve stem with the connection therebetween preventing relative rotating movement between plunger and stem while permitting limited axial movement of the plunger relative to the stem, said unit including a winding carrying an axial core path and such core plunger with the latter having a body zone positioned within said axial path and also having an annular flange positioned within the casing in spaced relation to the adjacent end of the winding and between the winding and the plunger projected end, a compression spring carried by the plunger between the flange and such winding end and operative to hold the plunger in completely projected position during inactivity of the winding and to move the plunger to such position responsive to the termination of winding activity, a member carried by the casing and extending into and axially alined with the core path of the winding, said member having a face adapted to cooperate with the core plunger free end face to form a frictional braking relation therebetween during and by activity of the winding, and controllable circuit connections operatively connected with a source of current supply, said connections including a switch operative to make and break the solenoid winding circuit, said circuit being open during winding inactivity, said switch being adapted to render the circuit active at will by foot pressure activity on the switch.

2. Control means as in claim 1 characterized in that the engaging zone between the stem end and the projected end of the core plunger presents a cross-section having the contacting faces of lunger and stem as complemental and including an angular contour with the cross-section constant throughout the length of the zone during winding inactivity to thereby permit core plunger rotation with the valve during normal valve operation, the length of such zone being greater than the permissible length of movement of the core plunger in presence of winding activity to thereby maintain the locked relation between plunger and stem during winding activity with the latter active to establish frictional engagement of plunger and member by plunger movement axially of the winding during activity of the latter to maintain the adjusted position of the valve.

DONALD J. MUNSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,067,317 Coplon July 15, 1913 1,622,211 Shier Mar. 13, 1928 2,174,062 Raesler Sept. 26, 1939 2,236,145 Kolb Mar. 25, 1941 2,284,380 Drabble May 26, 1942 

